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Our Cat

We had to say goodbye to our sweet boy, Simon Saturday.

Long story short, all tests done on him for the past 2 months were normal except the blood work today showing major kidney function issues. The Vet said that still didn't really explain a 4lb weight loss in 1 year, 3 of those in the past 2 months, alone. The vet also suspected GI Lymphoma considering all the vomiting & stool issues which had been increasing since earlier this year.

We made the extremely difficult decision to say goodbye rather than subject him to lengthy treatments which would possibly cause him discomfort, or to let him linger and waste away for however long. He has been a totally spoiled and pampered pet for 15 years and a really faithful, loving boy to all of us. I didn't want him to have any less quality of life for the rest of his days.

I know in my heart I could have chosen to let him have a few more months, but my brain also knew I wasn't certain of the amount of time he would actually have. He was considerably worse than he was when we took him to the Vet back in May, he'd really declined a lot since then. (He had a dental procedure which I now think took a toll on him and he's been going downhill faster since) I really didn't want to see him waste away, and I honestly didn't think it would be fair to let him do that. I also could not have spent the amount of money it would take to bring him to the quality of life which he would have surely been entitled to, as a member of our family. Even after spending a LOT of money on specialists and specialized testing, he may have had 1 month or 1 year. Not to mention the "nursing care" he would need, because he was not well.

He was a rescue cat, and I'd driven from FL to NC to pick him up 15 years ago. He was such a sweet Siamese who was never a one person cat. He followed us all around and had a different relationship with each of us and we all felt like he was "my own cat".

Don't ever think for one minute that you did wrong by him. He had the best life, I'm sure. It's never an easy choice, but you did good.

Thankyou, all of you.

I knew in my mind he was declining for months. I was ready to do this when I made the appt for the consultation. I also knew the past few months that I was annoyed at all the horking, even though it wasn't his fault. I was cleaning the carpet pretty regularly, and that takes a bit of time. I even had relegated him downstairs when we were all at work - where there was a concrete floor (with a nice bed, of course, and his food, water, scratch post, etc) so he could be near his litter box and I knew that any mess could be taken care of without a fuss. I am pragmatic, so it was a workable thing for a few weeks. To see what, if anything, would change. But that is no life for him. We could not nurse him 24/7 and his pottying "accidents" and vomiting were occuring daily as of last week. So I knew. And oddly, I know he did, too.

Still. You aren't ever ready at that final moment, I don't think. But I do know I did the right thing.

I knew in my mind he was declining for months. I was ready to do this when I made the appt for the consultation. I also knew the past few months that I was annoyed at all the horking, even though it wasn't his fault. I was cleaning the carpet pretty regularly, and that takes a bit of time. I even had relegated him downstairs when we were all at work - where there was a concrete floor (with a nice bed, of course, and his food, water, scratch post, etc) so he could be near his litter box and I knew that any mess could be taken care of without a fuss. I am pragmatic, so it was a workable thing for a few weeks. To see what, if anything, would change. But that is no life for him. We could not nurse him 24/7 and his pottying "accidents" and vomiting were occuring daily as of last week. So I knew. And oddly, I know he did, too.

Still. You aren't ever ready at that final moment, I don't think. But I do know I did the right thing.

You have become responsible forever, for what you have tamed. "Antoine de Saint Exupery"